Healthy eating tips

I’m sure many of my readers made healthrelated resolutions at the start of the new year. To Have a Healthy Lifestyle and Healthy Eating Habits – what a fantastic resolve!

Healthy eating does not necessarily mean missing out on tasty food, or depriving yourself of food, or having boring, bland and unappealing food. It is not that difficult to have healthy eating habits if we just keep a few tips in mind. Read on!

* Make simple changes to your diet that suit you and your lifestyle, as all individuals are different.

* Eat small and frequent meals throughout the day instead of having three large meals.

* Avoid skipping any meals whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, as this leads to excess eating in the next meal and eventually putting on weight.

* Aim for achievable health goals - do not look for unrealistic goals.

* Start your day with a healthy breakfast to improve your concentration and memory.

* For healthy and balanced meals, start with a carbohydrate such as bread, rice or chapattis; add lots of vegetables; include a moderate serving of protein such as dal, fish, chicken or meat, and add a little fat and flavour with lemon, herbs and spices.

* Try to add fish with bones such as salmon and sardines for extra calcium.

* Include 3 serves of milk and milk products or calcium enriched soy products everyday for enough calcium. A glass of milk or a small tub of yoghurt or a slice of cheese constitutes a serve of milk.

* Try to replace plain flour with whole meal or multi grain flour to make it more nutritious and healthy.

* Try to have different kinds of breads such as soy, linseed, pita, baguettes and wraps for variety and nutrition.

* Eat more foods with soluble fibre, such as dried beans, lentils, baked beans, fruit and vegetables to help lower your blood cholesterol.

* Check the saturated fat on the label of ‘cholesterol free’ food as saturated fat will also increase your cholesterol levels more than cholesterol in food.

* Try to eat a variety of foods everyday as it kills boredom and also no food is perfect and has all the required nutrients in proper proportion.

* Try to add whole fruits preferably with skin where possible instead of fruit juices.

* Have small sized in-between snacks. Do not convert your snacks to large-sized meals. Try to have small packets of nuts, muesli bars and low fat fruit yoghurt as in-between snacks instead of namkeen bhujias, doughnuts and creamy biscuits.

* Have at least 2 serves of fruits and 5 serves of vegetables every day.

* Try to be active every day anyway. Take the stairs, walk to your colleague instead of emailing, work in the garden, chase your pets and play sport with your kids.

* Do not follow a weight loss plan that excludes any particular food nutrient.

* Eat fats in moderation. Try to include some polyunsaturated fats and mono unsaturated fats such as olive oil and canola oil in your everyday cooking. Also try to use oil sprays rather than pouring oil.

* Use low fat variety of foods such as fat reduced milk products, lean meats and skinless chicken.

* Try to include fish at least twice a week in your menu. Fish contains omega 3 oils, which helps keep your heart healthy. Oily fish like ocean trout, salmon, sardines and tuna contain the most omega 3 oils. Baked fish is better than fried.

* Replace full fat cream with low fat ricotta cheese, evaporated skim milk or yoghurt for cooking.

* Use less fat by using cooking methods such as boiling, steaming, grilling, baking, micro wave and pressure cooking.

* Read food labels to make healthier food choices. Foods labeled high fibre should have at least 3g of fibre per 100g and foods labeled low salt should have a maximum of 120mg sodium per 100g or 50% or less sodium than the original food.

* Substitute coriander mint chutney or tomato chutney for tomato ketchup and creamy mayonnaise.

* Try to involve your kids in everyday grocery shopping, cooking and at meal times to teach them good healthy eating habits.

* Be creative with your child’s lunch box so that children enjoy their meals.

* Avoid unnecessary snacking in front of the television and computer.

* Be role models to your children and help them develop healthy eating habits.

* Keep celebration foods such as cakes, chocolates, samosas and jalebis for celebrations only.

* When going to restaurants, try not to order oversized meals, split desserts with friends, try to order salads without added cream as side dishes instead of French fries.

* Reach for a glass of water to quench your thirst instead of sodas, tea or fruit juices. You could reduce hundreds of empty calories in your diet by switching over from sodas and fizzy drinks to plain simple water and lemon juice. Make sure you have at least 10-12 glasses of water every day.

* If you are an emotional eater and eat when you are happy or sad, then do not stock high calorie foods such as potato chips, ice creams and candy in the house. Keep healthy snacks like fruits, crunchy vegetables with dips, or nuts handy. If you absolutely feel the need for a treat, then have a fun size dark chocolate.

* Keep to the safe limit and enjoy your drink. The safe limit for alcohol for males is 2 standard drinks and for females is one standard drink per day with 2 alcohol free days a week. A standard drink is for example-100ml of wine; 285ml full strength beer; 60ml port or sherry.

* When drinking alcohol drink lots of water along with it to prevent dehydration.

* Try to have low calorie snacks along with your drinks such as fresh salads, paneer, papad and crackers rather than having namkeen mixtures and fried snacks. Hope you all have a healthy 2010.